Staff mounting for golf course



March 22, 1960 E. LANE 2,929,528

STAFF MOUNTING FOR GOLF coURsE Filed Dec. 9, 1957 ATTORNEY United StatesPatent O F STAFF MOUNTING FOR GOLF COURSE Ernest Lane, Sarasota, Fla.

Application December 9, 1957, Serial No. 701,498

' 1 ctaim. (ci. 27s- 34) My invention relates to sta mountings for golfcourses, particularly offset means for supporting an end of aconventional staff in spaced relationship with respect to the topperimeter of a golf course hole.

As previously constructed, golf course stas have been mounted in a wellwithin the bottom of a golf course hole cup. Such mounting hasnecessitated removal of the staff before putting or otherwise playing ofthe golf ball towards the hole. This is because prior to January l,1956, the Professional Golf Association Rules invoked a penalty forstriking the staff with the golf ball during play. Since this datehowever the rules have been revised so that striking the staff with theball no longer invokes a penalty and, because of this revision manygolfers play directly towards the pin from any distance. According to myinvention, an offset bracket is applied to the end of a conventionalstaff. This bracket engages the hole cup and supports the end of thestaff in coaxial alignment with the center of the hole cup and in spacedrelation to the perimeter of the hole. This bracket is provided with anindexing pin which indexes the bracket to abut the side of the golfcourse hole cup farthest from the fairway or direction of play. Thebracket is also provided with a saucer-like base, which facilitatesremoval of the golf ball from the cup. This saucer-like base has acentering pin with drain channel therein, which centering pin centersthe bracket so that the staff is aligned co-axially with the center ofthe hole. By means of this bracket the staff is supported in spacedrelation to the top perimeter of the hole and substantially unimpededaccess of a golf ball into the hole cup is permitted, without removal ofsaid stati from the hole.

Earlier inventors have provided elaborate bases for golf course staffs.Sometimes, these bases have had drainage means therein and mostly, thesebases have facilitated removal of golf balls from the cup. In at leastone previous device the staff was mounted at the side of a removableinner cup for the golf cup. This inner cup telescoped within a speciallyconstructed outer cup as hole lining. inasmuch as this inner cup hadflanges which projected above the putting green surface, removal of thestaff and inner cup was necessary for putting. in most earlier devicesinstallation of a completely new golf course hole cup and staff wasnecessary. Significantly, according to my invention, conventional statand golf course hole cups may be modified for this new use.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of invention to provide aneccentric, offset staff mounting for conventional golf course hole cups.

Another object of invention is to provide a staff mounting forconventional golf course hole cups which will permit substantiallyunimpeded access of the golf ball yet support the staff in coaxialalignment with the center of the hole.

Yet another object of invention is to provide a mounting for golf coursestaiis which will support spatially said staffs in equidistant relationto the top perimeter 2,929,628 Patented Mar. 22, 1,960

2 of a golf course hole, which said mounting is adaptable toconventional staffs and golf course hole cups and will comply with U.S.Golf Association and Professional Golf Association regulationspertaining to such equipment.

Yet another object of invention is to provide indexing and centeringmeans for a staff and staff mounting, said indexing means aligning saidmounting farthest from thev direction of play and said centering meansaligning said stati co-axially with respect to the center of a hole cup.Y

Yet another object is to provide a golf course sta with removablelifting handle and target indicator aswell as threaded means at one endfor removably engaging ai staff mounting.

Yet an additional object of invention is to provide as a staff mountingfor golf courses a unitary offset bracket having a shoulder supportingan end of a staff, a shank curvilinearily configured as a verticalsegment of a golf course hole cup and a saucer-like base with an upwardcircumferential liange, said shank and said base removably engaging holecup and axially aligning said staff with respect to said hole.

Yet additional objects of invention will become apparent from theattached drawings, the description and claims which appear hereinafter.

Turning now to the drawings:

Figure l is an elevational view of my staff mounting, showing offsetbracket and hole cup in section.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of a target indicator attached to astaff.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of my staff mounting, showing targetindicator and lifting handle attached to the staff.

Figure 4 is a top plan view taken along lines 4-4 of Figure 1 andshowing the shank and saucer-like base portions of my offset bracketpositioned in a hole cup.

In Figure 1 the numeral 2 is taken generally to represent a golf coursestad having a full View portion 4 and offset bracket mounting 6. Aputting green 12 is shown as having a conventional hole 8 and therein aconvene tional hole cup 10, slightly modified as at 36. Golf ball 4 isshown in phantom entering the hole and resting within the saucer-likebase 30 of offset bracket 6. Offset bracket 6 comprises a substantiallyhorizontal shoulder 26, threadedly engaging an end of staff 4 as at 16,an upstanding shank 23 curvilinearily configured as a vertical segmentof cup lll and a saucer-like base 3l). Protruding from the bottom ofsaucer-like base 30 is indexing pin 34, engaging a matching drilled hole36 in cup lll. Also, protruding from the base 30 is centering pin 3Sengaging conventional well 42 which comprises the bottom of cup 10.Drainage is provided by means of channel 40 extending through centeringpin 38. The base 36 has upturned liange 32 encompassing at itscircumference shank 28 and configured to fit the bottom 44 of cup 10. Asmay be readily seen, the indexing pin 34 indexes the offset bracket sothat the shank 28 abuts a vertical segment of cup 10 farthest from thedirection of play. The centering pin 40 and upturned liange 32 cooperateto align staff 4 co-axially with the center of cup 10. As illustrated inFigures 1 and 2, a target indicator 20 may be attached to staff 4 bymeans of screws 22 and a staff lifting handle 18 may threadedly engagethe staff 4 as at 24. As will be readily apparent, stati 4 and offsetbracket 6 do not have to be removed during play. Upon holing in, theball 14 is removed from the cup 10 by lifting of the staff handle 18 andpartial removal of bracket 6.

Manifestly, my staff mounting may be adapted to conventional staff andhole cups. A conventional hole cup requires modification only bydrilling hole 36 therein for receipt of indexing pin 34. My centeringpin 38 may be modied to fit variously sized conventional hole cupbottoms 42. Preferably, my offset bracket 6, lifting handle 18 andtarget indicator 20 shall be constructed of aluminum or other rust-proofmetal.

It is apparent that various modifications of the ,above might beremployed without departing from the spirit and.

scope of the above invention, which I nowv claim as follows:Y f L Y Y Ina golf course stai mounting means for removably supporting an end ofsaid stai in spatial, equidistant relation to the top perimeter of agolf course hole, comprising apoE-set bracket having a -horizontallydisposed saucer-like base engaging the bottom of said hole, averticallyV disposed shank vcurvilinearily engaging a vertical segmentof a side of said hole and a horizontally disposed Yshoulder engagingranendtof said staff, said saucerlike base having an upturned angecircumferentially coniigured to fit the interior of the bottom of saidhole and said saucer-like base having appendant thereto an indexing pinengaging a hole in said hole bottom, aligning said shank against avertical segment of a side of Vsaid hole and said saucer-like basehaving a centering References Cited in the le of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Wales Dec. 28, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1936

